EL SEGUNDO AND LOS ANGELES, CA — One look at the National Hockey League standings will instantly tell you that the Los Angeles Kings are currently in the Western Conference playoff picture. But they will also show that they are just about as close to being out of playoff contention as they are to being in the thick of it.

On January 8, the Kings will play their 41st game of the season (against the New York Rangers, 7:30 PM, Staples Center), the halfway mark, and given their precarious playoff position, the time is now for them to back up their words with action and results, something they’re well aware of.

“We really need to turn it around quickly here,” said defenseman Drew Doughty. “We’re not happy with how we’re playing. It’s halfway through the season, and we’re just barely in a playoff spot. We want to have a lot more ground in front of other teams.”

EL SEGUNDO, CA — After a day off on January 6, the Los Angeles Kings returned to practice ice working on pushing their game back in the right direction as they hit the halfway point of the season against the New York Rangers on January 8 (7:30 PM PST, Staples Center in Los Angeles).

But the big news of the day was reports that head coach Darryl Sutter, and his assistant coaches, are expected to be coaching in the NHL All-Star Game on January 25, in Columbus.

Defensemen Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin talked about that after practice, as did Sutter, and you can watch those interviews below.

LA Kings left wing Tanner Pearson getting some rather special attentionfrom one member of a family at Tip A King 2015, held at the LA LiveEvent Deck, on January 3, 2015.Photo: Gann Matsuda/FrozenRoyalty.net

ALSO: Something important that you might not know about Marian Gaborik, praise for Alec Martinez, and video not available anywhere else of post-practice interviews on December 19, 2014, with Los Angeles Kings forwards Dustin Brown and Justin Williams, defenseman Jake Muzzin, and head coach Darryl Sutter.

LOS ANGELES AND EL SEGUNDO, CA — A common refrain heard among those who follow the Los Angeles Kings is that scoring is down and their top players are not producing as they should.

Although they are not clicking at the 3.38 goals per game rate they achieved during the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs (top team in the playoffs), the Kings are not exactly terrible either, scoring an average of 2.70 goals per game, ranked 16th in the National Hockey League this season—right in the middle of the pack.

ONTARIO, CA — On December 12, 2014, prior to the start of the Los Angeles Kings vs. Montreal Canadiens game at the Bell Centre in Montreal, I was a guest on MontrealHockeyTalk.com’s pre-game show, sharing what’s been happening with the Kings of late with hosts Steven Hindle and Corey Collard.

During the approximately 17-minute interview, we talked about Anze Kopitar’s season-long struggles, the emergence of Brayden McNabb, the strong play of Jake Muzzin, the loss of Slava Voynov, the impact of Darryl Sutter, and more.

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